Ringo Starr Refuses To Sign Autographs Because Of Resale On eBay

by Yuliya Talmazan | April 12, 2010 at 09:53 am

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Ringo Starr Blames eBay For Not Signing Autographs

The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr blames it all on eBay. In an interview on Sunday, Starr confirmed that he was no longer going to sign any more autographs because his fans profit from selling them on eBay. Starr took an anti-autograph stance two years ago when he posted a YouTube video, in which he claimed that he would no longer sign any memorabilia for fans because he was apparently "too busy." He set a firm deadline of October 20th, 2008, saying no more items will be signed after that because he just has "too much to do." In the video, Starr did not mention that resale was the reason behind his autograph ban at the time.

"I was signing and then they were on eBay the next day," he said on Sir Terry's BBC Radio 2 morning show. "So anyway I just decided, I think I've done my share. That's it."

Currently, items autographed by Ringo Starr can go for as little as $10 on eBay. But, some signed items fetch as much as $2,000.

BBC reports that the value of Starr's signature went up after the autograph ban, which essentially only increases the value of the memorabilia he signed before due to limited supply.

Among other celebrities who refuse to sign autographs are singer Hilary Duff and basketball legend Michael Jordan. Meanwhile, rapper Lil Wayne, for example, was barred from writing out autographs while he serves his jail term.